CHINA has called for greater efforts towards "peace and stability" in the region, after the Philippines offered to host more US troops.

Manila said on Friday it planned to hold more joint exercises and to let more US troops rotate through the Southeast Asian country - an offer welcomed by the United States as it seeks to expand its military power in Asia.

"We hope that relevant parties will make more effort towards peace and stability in the region," China's foreign ministry said in a brief statement.

The government's response was in sharp contrast to a blistering editorial in the Global Times - known for its nationalistic stance - which said Beijing should impose sanctions against the Philippines over the move.

China should use its "leverage to cut economic activities" between the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries and consider "cooling down" business links with its smaller neighbour, according to the editorial published in the Chinese and English versions of the newspaper.

"It should show China's neighbouring areas that balancing China by siding with the US is not a good choice," it said.

"Well-measured sanctions against the Philippines will make it ponder the choice of losing a friend such as China and being a vain partner with the US."

China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, have rival claims to parts of the South China Sea, home to some of the world's most important shipping lanes and believed to hold vast deposits of fossil fuels.

Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia also have claims in the South China Sea.

Manila and Hanoi complained repeatedly last year of what they said were increasingly aggressive acts by China in the decades-long rift.

The alleged acts, which included a Chinese naval ship reportedly firing warning shots at Filipino fishermen, fuelled fears among some nations in the region about China as its military and political strength grows.

The US has been looking to increase its military presence across Asia Pacific in a strategic shift that has angered China.

US President Barack Obama said in November the United States would deploy up to 2500 Marines to Australia. The following month, a US admiral wrote that the US expected to station several combat ships in Singapore.

Apart from the US, Philippines has signed a 5 year military deal with Italy.

The Philippines is surely deeply concerned with the Chinese shenanigans in the South China sea or so it appears.

Philippines to sign five-year military deal with Italy

Jan 31, 2012
MANILA - The Philippines is set to sign a five-year agreement with Italy to facilitate the purchase of military hardware that may include fighter planes, long-range patrol aircraft and radar to monitor coastal areas.

Philippine Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin will sign the agreement with his Italian counterpart Giampaolo Di Paola, according to an emailed statement yesterday from Mr Gazmin's office.

A team from the Philippines is in Italy this week to shop for weapons including combat aircraft and vessels, Mr Gazmin had told reporters last Friday.

The Philippines aims to spend as much as 70 billion pesos (S$2 billion) until 2020 to modernise its forces, Defence Under-Secretary Hernando Manalo said last week.

The Philippines took delivery of 18 basic trainer aircraft from Italian company Alenia Aermacchi last year, according to the statement.

The Philippines' push to acquire military equipment from Italy comes as it also seeks closer defence ties with the United States to deter China from operating in disputed waters.

"Our primary goal is to explore all avenues for us to really address the needs of our defence establishment, in line with our established systems and procedures," Mr Gazmin said. "We constantly seek ways for the improvement of our capability to address the threats we face."

After Italy, the defence team will visit Spain and may also consider equipment from the US, South Korea, France and the United Kingdom.

The Philippines last year had proposed dividing up land features and setting maritime boundaries according to the United Nations Law of the Sea.

Such a move would cost China rights to a large swath of the waters now encompassed by its tongue-shaped "nine-dash map" that extends hundreds of kilometres south from Hainan Island to the equatorial waters off the coast of Borneo. Bloomberg

MANILA, Philippines â€” The Philippines on Jan. 27 announced plans to allow a greater U.S. military presence on its territory, in a move analysts said was directly aimed at trying to contain a rising China.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines was looking for more joint military exercises with its former colonial ruler, as well as having a greater number of U.S. troops rotating through the country.

â€œIt is to our definite advantage to be exploring how to maximize our treaty alliance with the United States in ways that would be mutually acceptable and beneficial,â€ del Rosario said in a statement.

Del Rosario did not specifically name China as driving the Philippinesâ€™ push for a greater U.S. military presence, but highlighted â€œterritorial disputes.â€ The most pressing territorial dispute for the Philippines is with China over claims to parts of the South China Sea, home to some of the worldâ€™s most important shipping lanes and believed to hold vast deposits of fossil fuels.

The Philippines and Vietnam, who also claims parts of the South China Sea, complained repeatedly last year of what they said were increasingly aggressive acts by China in the decades-long rift.

The accusations, which included a Chinese naval ship firing warning shots at Filipino fishermen, fueled fears among some nations in the region about China as its military and political strength grows.

In his statement, del Rosario said a greater U.S. military presence in the Philippines would help bolster regional security.

â€œSuch cooperative efforts would as well result in achieving a balance of influence to ensure peace, stability, and economic development in the region,â€ he said.

Nevertheless, del Rosario and other officials emphasized there were no plans to allow a return of the large-scale U.S. military bases that existed in the Philippines until 1992, when Filipino senators voted to close them down.

Del Rosario said the increased U.S. military presence could include â€œplanning more joint exercises to promote interoperability, and a rotating and more frequent presence by them.â€

Aside from regular military exercises, the most notable U.S. presence in the Philippines in recent times has been a rotating force of about 600 troops that has been stationed in the southern Philippines for the past decade.

The U.S. special operations forces train local troops in how to combat Islamic militants but are not allowed to have a fighting role.

Del Rosarioâ€™s statement expanded on comments by U.S. State Department officials on Jan. 26, who said the two countries were involved in talks this week on increasing military cooperation.

Philippine officials said more talks would be held in March to determine specifics of the plans.

Political analysts in Manila said the Philippinesâ€™ decision to allow a larger U.S. military presence was a direct reaction to Chinaâ€™s perceived increased aggressiveness, particularly regarding the South China Sea.

â€œThe Philippines is now playing the U.S. card to get more leverage against China,â€ said Rommel Banlaoi, head of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research.

Rene de Castro, a lecturer in international studies at De la Salle University said: â€œWe are playing the balance of power game because we have no means to deal with an emergent and very assertive China.â€

In a strategic shift that has angered China, the United States has been looking to increase its military presence across the Asia Pacific.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in November the United States would deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia. The next month a U.S. admiral wrote that the U.S. expected to station several combat ships in Singapore.

Play a Georgia over PH, to test how far the US would go for the ally? Who now can spell Abkhazia... or Ossetia?

Or finally take Russia's long awaiting offer to turn SCO into a military bloc?

Or not yet. The priority shall be given to exercise de facto control over islands/shoals/reefs + potential deepsea oil fields ???

Click to expand...

China cannot play a Georgian act in the Philippines. It has no breakaway provinces to speak of in the first place... It can however invade some islands in the Spratlys inhabited by Filipinos, but I doubt if the Chinese have the balls (I know Chinese are good at bluffing).

China cannot play a Georgian act in the Philippines. It has no breakaway provinces to speak of in the first place... It can however invade some islands in the Spratlys inhabited by Filipinos, but I doubt if the Chinese have the balls (I know Chinese are good at bluffing).

The Philippines' decision not to destroy the Chinese structures on Mischief Reef prevented an escalation of the dispute. The Philippines claims that China has always been prepared for armed conflict when opposed, as is evident in China's defense of reefs from Vietnam in 1988 Johnson South Reef Skirmish which resulted in more than 70 Vietnamese deaths.[4] The Philippines decided not to attack since it could have led the two countries into a war, the consequences of which could have escalated into a wider conflict. The Philippines is a treaty military ally of the United States.

Please don't talk of an issue that you don't have full grasped on. The MILF has no popular support in Mindanao, even among Muslims. And on the bigger picture the Muslims are a minority in the Philippine Mindanao island.

Re Hongkong tourists, probably the Philippine officers thought those tourists were PLA spies... (This is a joke, may the souls of those poor victims rest in peace)

BTW, it's funny how you swagger in your posts when the Philippine Navy routinely confiscate Chinese fishing boats in the contested area...